Competitor Coach of the Month: Kevin Tyrell, Harvard

Over the month of January, coach Kevin Tyrell and the Harvard Crimson men have rolled up a 4-0 dual meet record, including a cross-country road win against 10th-ranked Arizona State. Archive photo via Tim Binning/TheSwimPictures.com

The American team of juniors had a dominant showing at Junior Pan Pacs, winning 27 of 35 golds medals and more than half of all medals awarded. Nashville Aquatic Club swimmers accounted for 9 total medals, 7 of them gold.

California Aquatics brought 23 men to the U.S. National Championships. And coach Dave Durden helped 18 of them earn finals swims and 13 Cal swimmers make some sort of major international travel team for Team USA.

Competitor Coach of the Month is a recurring SwimSwam feature shedding light on a U.S.-based coach who has risen above the competition. As with any item of recognition, Competitor Coach of the Month is a subjective exercise meant to highlight one coach whose work holds noteworthy context – perhaps a coach who was clearly in the limelight, or one whose work fell through the cracks a bit more among other stories. If your favorite coach wasn’t selected, feel free to respectfully recognize them in our comment section.

Over the month of January, coach Kevin Tyrell and the Harvard Crimson men have rolled up a 4-0 dual meet record, including a cross-country road win against 10th-ranked Arizona State.

In that meet, sophomore Dean Farriswon two key showdowns with fellow sophomore standout Cameron Craig. Farris took home the 200 free for Harvard in 1:36.72 compared to 1:38.32 for ASU’s Craig. Then in the 100, Farris was 43.96 to Craig’s 44.34. For that 200 free, both swimmers were coming off of the medley relay, where Farris led off in 22.71 on the winning Harvard team. Then in the 400 free relay, Farris erased a Sun Devil lead of more than a second and a half on the anchor leg, splitting a stellar 42.91 to bring Harvard back for the win and ice the meet. An ASU relay win would have clinched the meet for the home team.

Tyrell’s crew was great across the board in Arizona. Freshman Michael Zarianwon the 200 fly in 1:50.15. Brennan Novaknearly cracked 9 minutes with a 9:03.25 win in the 1000. The Crimson went 1-2-3 in the 50 free behind Steven Tan, who also took the 100 fly in 47.64.

The next week, Harvard would go on to blow out Penn, and a week later the team topped Rider and Bryant by huge margins in a triangular.

Tyrell has recruited very well over the past few seasons, and his team is starting to come into its own. Starting the season with the #20 rank in our Power Rankings, the Crimson look like a team built to dominate the Ivy League – and if they show up well, to make waves at the NCAA Championships in a few months.

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About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson just can’t stay away from the pool. A competitive career of almost two decades wasn’t enough for this Minnesotan, who continues to get his daily chlorine fix. A lifelong lover of writing, Jared now combines the two passions as Senior Reporter for SwimSwam.com, covering swimming at every level.
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